Qisas
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- This is a sub-article of Islamic criminal jurisprudence and Blood money (term).
Qisas (Arabic: قصاص) is an Islamic term meaning "retaliation," and follows the principle of an eye for an eye, or lex talionis, first set forth by Hammurabi, and subsequently included in the Old Testament and later legal codes. In the case of murder, it means the right of the heirs of a murder victim to demand execution of the murderer.
- O you who believe, equivalence is the law decreed for you when dealing with murder - the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the female for the female. If one is pardoned by the victim's kin, an appreciative response is in order, and an equitable compensation shall be paid. This is an alleviation from your Lord and mercy. Anyone who transgresses beyond this incurs a painful retribution[1][2].
The Quran also allows aggrieved parties to forfeit the right of qisas as an act of charity or an act of atonement for sins.[3]
Qisas is enforced today in countries which follow Sharia, including Saudi Arabia, Iran[4] and Pakistan.[5]
The issue of qisas gained attention in the Western media in 2009 when Ameneh Bahrami, an Iranian woman blinded in an acid attack, demanded that her attacker be blinded as well[6]. In 2011 Bahrami made a last minute retraction of this demand, requesting on the day on which the punishment was due to be carried out that her attacker, Majid Movahedi, be pardoned[7].
[edit] References
- ^ Sura 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah), 178
- ^ [Quran 2:178]
- ^ [Quran 5:45]
- ^ A Guide to the Legal System of the Islamic Republic of Iran, March 2006
- ^ WLUML: News and Views
- ^ "In Iran, a case of an eye for an eye" Phillie Metro March 29, 2009
- ^ "Iranian sentenced to be blinded for acid attack is pardoned" (BBC News, 31 July 2011)
